Using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at ESO’s Paranal Observatory, astronomers have imaged a 5,000-light-year-wide star-bursting ring in the center of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097.
This image, taken with VLT’s MUSE instrument, shows the central region of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097. Image credit: VLT / ESO / TIMER Survey.
NGC 1097 lies in the southern constellation Fornax at a distance of only 45 million light-years.
This galaxy was discovered by the German-British astronomer William Herschel on October 9, 1790.
Also known as Apg 77, ESO 416-20, LEDA 10488 and UGCA 41, it is a relatively bright barred spiral galaxy, seen face-on.
At magnitude 9.5, and thus just 25 times fainter than the faintest object that can be seen with the unaided eye, it appears in small telescopes as a bright, circular disk.
NGC 1097 is also known as an example of the so-called LINER class of galaxies. Objects of this type are believed to be low-luminosity examples of active galactic nuclei.
The galaxy hosts a black hole approximately 140 million times more massive than our Sun.
The area immediately around the supermassive black hole shines powerfully with radiation coming from the material falling in.
The distinctive ring around the black hole is bursting with new star formation.
An inflow of material toward the central bar of the galaxy is causing the ring to light up with new stars.
The ring spans only 5,000 light years across, being dwarfed by the full size of its host galaxy, which extends some tens of thousands of light-years beyond its center.
“The darker lanes seen in this MUSE image show dust, gas and debris from the galaxy (or possibly from a satellite galaxy), which are being funnelled into the supermassive black hole at its center,” ESO astronomers said.
“This process heats up the surrounding matter forming an accretion disk around the black hole and launching huge amounts of energy into the surrounding area.”
“Nearby dust is heated up and star formation accelerates in the area around the supermassive black hole, forming the star-bursting nuclear ring shown in pink and purple tones in the image.”
